The COHEU team was on their way to visit a small Roma community on the outskirts of the city of Kardjali in Bulgaria when their driver said, “they call this town the place that doesn’t exist”. Most of the 35 families that live here are illegal immigrants. They came, built their small mud homes and just stayed. The only available water came from one outside faucet, operational because of an illegal connection into the water system. Like many other Roma, living in most of the Eastern European countries, these people suffer under poverty and social exclusion, forcing many of the young women into prostitution or human trafficking. Convoy of Hope Europe, partnering with the Whitburn Pentecostal Church near Glasgow, Scotland, has adopted this community. Together we are endeavoring to make “ the place that does not exist,” a better place for families to live. Education will be one of the factors which will make a huge impact in this society. Therefore, COHEU will place a large emphasis on the schooling of the children. It is our goal to see the majority of children and young adults not only attend school but to graduate. Together, with the village elders and our sponsors, we will be looking at what can be done to make “the place that does not excist,” a place that transforms lives and creates opportunities for a bright future. COHEU has the following goals. Install water purifications systems. Build a new church/community center. Provide Christmas packages to students and teachers. Provide a part-time tutor to help children with their education

Walking through this little Roma settlement, west of Oradea, Romania you can easily be overwhelmed by the terrible living conditions. During the rainy season the roads are practically impassable and children play in mud holes. The inhabitants of this village, in the Bihur province, live in self-made mud homes, with no access to running water or any sanitation systems. Only a few of the men are employed and families survive from handouts. COHEU has adopted this community. In the coming three years we would like to work together to make it a better place. One of the goals of this project is to help integrate the inhabitants into the Romanian culture. We have set a number of objectives. Children are enrolled in school but through various reasons are not going to school every day. Our goal would be to have class attendance up to at least 4 days a week. Almost all of the adults are unemployed. We would like to see that a minimum of 50% of the adults have a regular job. Improve infrastructure of village. COHEU has planned the following initiatives to fulfill these goals: Dig a well in the city. Install water filters in each home. Teach about hygiene and sanitation. Build a one-room community center that will serve as a church, after school project room and class room for adult learning. Start a model vegetable garden to educate on better farming principles. Create a gravel road. Build proper sanitation rooms including showers and toilets. Help some of the inhabitants start and maintain a small business.

COHEU is partnering with Kings Community Church, Aberdeen, Scotland and First Assembly of God, Normal, Illinois, U.S.A. in several projects here. Kings Community Church is working mainly in the city of Berane. With a population of 34,000 people and high unemployment there are many needs. The first priority is to physically, socially and spiritually change a small refugee camp on the outskirts of the city. Visiting teams have already provided food distributions and plans are being made to change some of the living conditions. First Assembly in Normal, Illinois has already sent a team to the capital Podgorica and held a major event. This is not an easy place to work but COHEU has committed to staying here for several years.

In September of 2009, Convoy of Hope Europe partnered with Pastor Barry Ivie of St. Charles River Church in Missouri, U.S.A. to conduct its fourth outreach in the city of Lisbon. The east side of the city is well known in Portugal as the place where you would not want to live. There are rows and rows of high-rise apartment buildings which house many of the cities poor. The residents of the east side survive on government subsidies and rent control. Convoy of Hope Europe teamed up with two local churches to serve the community with a demonstration of love. 1,056 attended the event and 203 people responded to the Gospel message and 70 of them came to church the following day. Each guest at the COH outreach was welcomed by their own personal host who accompanied them throughout their stay. The KidZone overflowed with delirious children who were treated to bounce houses, face painting and endless game playing. The adults took advantage of free haircuts, manicures, pedicures, medical screening and they each walked home with food parcels to help alleviate the pressure of everyday life. COHEU will continue to work with St. Charles River Church and CRC church in Lisbon to improve this area which is known as Quinta de Laje.